Mindset

Business psychology services

Business psychology services

What do you want? That’s the first question that we’ll explore in this series of articles on coaching to get unstuck.

Are You Feeling Stuck?

There are points in most of our lives when we feel stuck. For a multitude of reasons, we’re not where we want to be in our personal or professional life. So, we talk about our dreams, yet, when it comes to putting those into action, all we see are barriers. Therefore, the path out of current existence seems too big a hurdle to navigate and change feels impossible.

Now, some of those barriers are real. You may not currently have the necessary finances, qualifications, skills or opportunities to fulfil your ambitions. However, it isn’t uncommon that the reasons for inaction are based on internal mindset, feelings and thoughts. The steps to change often push us outside of our comfort zone and that can feel overwhelming.

What’s more, we aren’t just challenging ourselves, we also need to challenge other people’s perceptions and expectations of us. That concern about what others will think can be disempowering.

Articulating What You Want

If you are looking to make improvements to your personal or professional life, I’d like to help. As a professional coach, I can offer some tips to help you get started. The first centres on pinpointing exactly what you want.

Now, this might seem like the easy bit. “I want a promotion”, “I want to get fitter”, “I want to travel”, “I want to study a degree”, “I want to write a book”…the list goes on. But, I encourage you to dig deeper and explore the reason why this is important to you.

Let’s take a promotion as an example. This might be an aspiration because it comes with a pay rise and that could lead to greater financial security. So, is this the true goal? And if so, what does financial security mean to you? Would it enable you to get out of debt or help you pay for something you desire? So, is being debt-free or making that purchase the true goal?

Perhaps, the promotion offers you status. You feel that a step up better reflects your skills and experience. Is this important to you because it builds your self-esteem? Or, is this about meeting the expectations of family? Is this a goal because you are comparing yourself with your peers or feel you need the job to gain respect from colleagues?

Understanding Your Goal

The better understanding you have of your goal, the more likely you can fulfil your need. That is why, as a coach, I encourage you to drill down and articulate exactly what you want.

If you think your goal is to get a promotion, you might be successful, yet feel unsatisfied. That’s because the underpinning goal was to clear your debt. You gained the promotion and pay rise, but you now need to pay more for the commute and have higher childcare costs. Therefore, your financial situation is unchanged and you still feel stuck.

Equally, when you pin down the true goal, you might see other ways of achieving it. This is an important element in my coaching sessions. People often see one route to success, but I help them to take the blinkers off. Are there alternative paths or stepping stones that can move you in your desired direction? Sometimes, these present fewer obstacles and are easier to achieve.

On this point, I also want to mention that your goals have to be something you can action. You might resent that your manager hasn’t put you forward for promotion, but that feeling won’t change the situation. So, what can you do about it?

Coaching Encourages You To Record Your Goals

Once you have explored the changes you want and why, it’s a good idea to record your goals. The more vivid and descriptive you can be the better. Your record could be visual, using imagery to represent your aspiration. It might be a mindmap or a written journal – you chose.

Scientific research* has shown that recording your goals in detail helps the mind to retain the information. Neuro connections are formed in the process, which help you to focus on opportunities to realise that ambition.

Some people also find it helpful to tell others. Now, this can be a risk, as people will have their views of your plans. With their interests at heart, they may offer opinions and cautions, or just say whatever they think you want to hear. So, stick to those who you trust to have your interests at heart.

Professional Coaching

Professional coaching guides you to fully hone in on what matters. By asking appropriate questions and exploring your priorities, I can help you articulate and record what you want.

The next stage is taking action. That’s the difference between a pipedream and an ambition realised. I’ll be sharing advice on this in my next Coaching To Get Unstuck article.

If you would like to find out more about my professional coaching services, please get in touch at [email protected]. I’d love to help you get unstuck and realise your dreams.

 

* https://www.newscientist.com/article/2414241-writing-things-down-may-help-you-remember-information-more-than-typing/

*Goals Research by Dr Gail Matthews

We use cookies to ensure the best experience on our website. You can disable the use cookies in your browser settings. Disabling cookies can cause the website to not function as intended. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring your data is handled in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).